Letter from Principal Callahan

Letter from Principal Callahan

Dear Drury Students and Families,

As we enter our second year as a 7-12 school, we have much to celebrate. The launch of the Drury 7/8 Academy last year was a grand challenge – so many new students in the building, teachers in new roles, a new curriculum to explore – but I’m happy to report that the 7/8 Academy was a success. We not only saw significant academic improvement in grade 8, but we saw an inspiring increase in positive social behavior from 2016-2017 to 2017-2018.

On the high school side, we cheered the winning of division titles in girls basketball, boys basketball, and boys soccer, and applauded the 300% (three hundred percent!) increase in top scores on Advanced Placement Exams. More students took more challenging classes last year than in the entire history of Drury High School, and student success rates were higher than we have ever seen.

These gains could not have happened without the dedicated work of the Drury faculty and staff, the eagerness of Drury students to continue to improve their school, and the support of parents, family, and the North Adams community.

That last word – community – is the overarching theme of this coming school year. Drury’s Values and Beliefs statement identifies that “the entire school community must facilitate a student-centered learning environment characterized by equity, personalization, collaboration, and engagement.” The statement also describes learning as “a collaborative process of continual student growth.” The “school community” is far more than what we can see within Drury High School.

Our school community is the parent volunteers who help measure the distance of a javelin throw at a freezing track meet. Our school community is the local professionals who visit 7/8 Academy classrooms to teach students about career exploration with the Junior Achievement program. Our school community is the adult mentors working with the YMCA to help at-risk students. Our school community is the high school student mentors working with UMass and 4-H to provide support for struggling learners. Our school community is MASS MoCA, the Clark Art Museum, and the Williams Museum of Art who engage students in Creating a Culture of Respect. The list goes on.

We are all Drury High School and we must continue to collaborate for continual student growth. All of us. Every day.

Thank you for your support of our students and your continued contributions to the Drury High School community.